Greens' praise for anti-coal hoax proves their extremism - Abetz

Jonathan Swan, Judith Ireland, Damien Bright

THE Coalition has labelled the Greens the ''epitome of extremism'' for the party's support of the anti-coal hoax.

Leading the attack, the leader of the opposition in the Senate, Eric Abetz, also said the Greens had a ''disrespect for the rule of law'' for congratulating an activist being investigated for a hoax that temporarily wiped more than $314 million off the sharemarket value of a coal company.

''With the Greens it is always a case of the ends justifying the means,'' he said.

On Tuesday the Greens leader, Christine Milne, and her colleague Lee Rhiannon endorsed a controversial hoax, in which an anti-coal mining activist, Jonathan Moylan, issued a fake media release from ANZ Bank pretending that the bank had withdrawn a $1.2 billion loan facility from Whitehaven Coal because of ''unacceptable damage to the environment'' caused by the company's Maules Creek coal project.

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Mr Moylan says officers from the Australian Securities and Investments Commission have raided his camp in northern NSW and seized his laptop and phone. He is now obtaining legal representation.

He has admitted that to highlight environmental concerns he tricked investors by designing a fake ANZ press template, website and dummy email inbox online and by impersonating a company spokesperson.

Following the prank, shares in Whitehaven, which counts struggling coal baron Nathan Tinkler as its biggest shareholder, quickly fell from $3.52 to $3.21 before the stock was put into a trading halt.

Asked if he had qualms about lying, Mr Moylan, who belongs to the anti-coal mining group Frontline Action Coal, said: ''Our primary concern is the impact of this mine on the environment at the end of the day.'' On Tuesday, Senator Milne described Mr Moylan's hoax as being ''part of a long and proud history of civil disobedience, potentially breaking the law, to highlight something wrong''.

Her comments followed a tweet by colleague Senator Rhiannon, who wrote: ''Congrats to Jonathan Moylan, Frontline Action on Coal, for exposing ANZ investment in coalmines.''

Senator Milne's statement and Senator Rhiannon's tweet come as the Greens try to appeal to new constituencies and recast themselves as less ''extreme'' in an election year.

Last month, the party revealed a new platform of policies aimed at presenting a smaller target to critics.

Senator Rhiannon stirred controversy over her support for an anti-Israel boycott policy in the 2011 NSW election. Last year she apologised after it emerged she helped to ghost-write an article, attacking her party for accepting a $1.7 million donation from the web entrepreneur Graeme Wood.